


Daughter of Steel

by LimeGreenBunny



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Canon compliant with the show only
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2020-03-07 05:27:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18866659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LimeGreenBunny/pseuds/LimeGreenBunny
Summary: An abandoned child. A master metalbender's protege. A ruthless dictator. A disgraced war criminal. Kuvira has spent her life trying to find a place in a world that has always turned its back on her. Now she is in prison suffering for her crimes against humanity, and the only glimpse of light in her life comes from the unexpected kindness of Avatar Korra.But now a darkness has awoken in the Earth Kingdom and the echoes of Kuvira's military conquest are coming back to plague the land, fed by a mysterious new source of power. Korra turns to the former dictator for help, convincing the world leaders that Kuvira is the only one who can quell the flames of war. But as Kuvira's inner conflict weighs heavily upon her she begins to wonder: will she be able to stop the darkness infecting her nation, or will she succumb to the darkness that is growing in her heart?Thanks to my betazhenyilani!





	1. Chapter 1

_All hail the Great Uniter._

"Who?" The little girl asked, turning to see the speaker behind her even though it was too dark to see anything. 

But no, it wasn't completely dark after all. She was in her own home, a ramshackle hovel lit only by the glow of a tiny fire that looked terrified to draw too much attention to itself.

Her parents were there. But neither of them could have called her that name. Neither of them knew. Or did they? Her father fixed her with a glare that was red with alcohol and anger. What had she done this time? She glanced at her mother in panic, but the woman was oblivious, lost as always in her own fog of apathy and substance abuse. Her father's arm swung in a wild motion and the bottle he had been holding shattered on the floor scattering hints of unnatural purple light. He took a heavy step towards her, raising his hand. 

The girl squeezed her eyes shut, but when she opened them she was in the sunlight, each hand grasped by one of her parents. All around her was a bewildering whirl of colors, people, animals, smells of food; the festival! Her parents had never brought her along before...

She smiled up at her father as he handed her a bun filled with red bean paste. She already knew it tasted scrumptious. She remembered devouring it as her parents left her on a bench, drowning her uneasiness in its sweet filling as they turned their backs and walked off. They would be back, they had said, but here was a sealed letter to give to the police if she needed help.

It was dark again.

_It's your fault they left you._

"Help," the girl whispered.

_You are all alone. It's what you deserve._

But no, there she was! The girl had been waiting for her; the woman in green robes with short, carefully curled hair the color of steel. The girl ran to where the woman was standing with her back turned. Slowly she turned around and fixed the girl with a gaze cold and sharp like a blade. 

This wasn't right. The woman had been much younger when she had rescued the girl; her face much kinder. 

"It's you." The woman's hiss gave the girl a horrible start. She shrank down, trembling. 

"It's you," the woman said again, "Great Uniter."

"No," whispered the girl, "That isn't me."

The light grew, spreading slowly from its center at the woman and illuminating more figures standing around her. Many more. A multitude.

"You did this. You destroyed all of this." 

"I'm sorry!" the girl cried, "I didn't want this, leave me alone!"

The light was taking on a deadly purple cast and revealing the features of the figures around the woman. Many of the faces the girl knew well. She couldn't look at them. Even more there were whom she didn't recognize, but their eyes were full of suffering she knew she had caused. A low rumble grew from the silence and the figures began to chant. 

"You... Monster... Destroyer... Murderer..."

The purple light became blinding. The rumble grew into a roar. The skyline of broken buildings shook as on the horizon a metal giant stood, its hand outstretched toward the destruction.

The girl screamed as the world disintegrated around her.

_________________________________________

Kuvira woke with a jolt. She lay on her prisoner's cot, breathing heavily, looking around and willing the all-too-familiar surroundings of her cell to replace the ghastly images from her dream. The wooden walls and floor. The platinum bars separating her from the short hallway just outside. The only furniture was her cot, plus a platinum toilet behind a rickety screen if that counted as furniture. It was a cell built for the most dangerous of metalbending criminals. 

A ribbon of light filtered in through the slit of a window in the top corner of her cell, and she knew from the angle that it was early evening. Kuvira pushed herself into a sitting position and tried to calm her breathing. She had spent the last couple of nights avoiding sleep because of the nightmares, which probably explained why she had fallen asleep in the middle of the day. As her head cleared, she noticed the voices of two men talking quietly outside the door that led to the hallway her cell was in. That was unusual, but Kuvira couldn’t bring herself to care what it was all about. However her ears did perk up a bit when she thought she heard one of them mention Avatar Korra.

Korra. Normally she would be visiting within a week or so, but last time she’d come she had mentioned that she needed to travel to Ba Sing Se on some business or other, something about unrest and helping out the new regime, and wouldn’t show up again for at least two months.

Kuvira closed her eyes and leaned against the wooden wall of her cell, drowning out the whispering voices with her thoughts. Korra had visited five times so far, about once a month since Kuvira's imprisonment. She would always ask things like how Kuvira was doing, whether they were treating her well, how her injuries were healing up, if there was anything she needed. On the last visit she had even brought tea, though Kuvira had refused it. Korra’s visits troubled her. She couldn’t fathom why the Avatar would go out of her way to visit a war criminal, much less someone who should be one of her worst enemies. But then, she still didn’t understand why Korra had saved her life in the first place. 

Not that it mattered. With the likelihood that she would be spending the rest of her days in this very cell, there didn’t seem to be much point to life anyway.

She was broken from her thoughts by the sound of a key scraping in the door’s lock. The door swung open and a guard stepped into the room. He was not one she recognized from the weekly rotation. 

“Prisoner, you’re wanted for questioning.” 

It seemed like a strange event this late in the evening. She couldn’t even think what else of use she could possibly tell them, but she merely nodded and stood up.

The guard fumbled at the platinum lock to the cell. He seemed strangely on edge, not even having met her eyes when he spoke to her. He stepped inside the door and pulled a pair of handcuffs from his pocket. Kuvira extended her wrists obediently.

There was an instant of hesitation. The guard’s fist flashed through the air and collided with her face. The cuffs had been clenched in his hand, and she could taste blood where the metal had scraped her mouth. She shook off her dizziness and straightened to look at him. It wasn’t the first time a guard had been rough with her, but before it had always seemed to be on a whim, with more intent to humiliate than to do damage. This man’s eyes were burning with hate, though he also looked nervous. She thought he must be close to her age, and he was only a bit taller and broader than she.

 _I could take him,_ she thought, _if I cared enough._

Kuvira wiped blood from her lips.

“They might not approve of this down in questioning,” she said in a dispassionate voice, staring the man down. He winced and yelled the name of the other guard. Kuvira glanced over as the the second guard entered. The first man took advantage of her brief distraction, grabbing her shoulder to whirl her around and slam her back against the platinum bars. Her head reeled. Black spots popped across her vision. She made no attempt to resist as he locked her wrist into the handcuffs and passed them to his comrade who had grabbed her from behind. The second guard looped the cuffs through the bars and clamped her other wrist in.

“My brother,” the first man breathed as his comrade left through the door, “was in the United Forces Navy. He was on one of the ships you fired your spirit cannon on. They…they were barely able to recognize his body when they found it.” The man was shaking.

“I’m sorry,” Kuvira whispered, her insides twisting horribly.

“SHUT UP!” he shouted. “You’re sick, you’ve murdered innocent people. I’m gonna make you pay.”

His fist slammed into her stomach and knocked the air from her lungs. She doubled over, falling almost to her knees until a horizontal bar stopped her from sinking further. The man continued to strike. Pain blinded her as his foot connected with her ribs and the sound of blood rushing through her ears drowned out all else. The world around her began melting again into her nightmares. The roaring of a spirit cannon and violent purple light flooded her consciousness.

From underneath the fog of near-oblivion, she became aware that the impacts had suddenly stopped.

“What are you _doing_?” A female voice shouted, sounding muffled despite being very near. 

Kuvira tried to focus through the haze of pain and dizziness.

“Avatar Korra!” The guard’s voice was panicked. “You…you aren’t supposed to be here!”

“Well I’m here.” 

“Don’t hurt me!” the man pleaded. There was the sound of a struggle, and the voices moved out of the cell and into the hall.

“Don’t _hurt_ you? Because you were just having a pleasant chat with _her_?” There was a slam, followed by a gasp from the man. Kuvira could feel a source of heat growing behind her.

“No! Please, I’ll do anything, DON’T!” A pause. The heat dissipated and the woman’s voice, _Korra’s_ voice, growled in frustration. The sound of footsteps and something being dragged moved behind Kuvira. The door to the hallway opened. 

“Guard,” said Korra.

“Yes Avatar?” It was the voice of the guard assigned to Kuvira for the week. He sounded terrified.

“Arrest this man for assaulting a prisoner. And I want both of you to stay. Right. Here. Until I’m back.”

“As you wish, Avatar.” 

The door slammed shut, and the footsteps hastened back towards Kuvira.

She felt hands; gentle hands on her wrists, unlocking her handcuffs, supporting her as she fell forward. Strong arms half dragged her towards her cot. She opened her one eye that hadn't been hit at some point during the assault and saw the flash of the Avatar’s blue eyes.

Korra eased Kuvira onto her cot and sat on the edge of it. Kuvira lay there, the shooting pain in her ribcage forcing her to breathe shallowly. As her head started to clear, she felt the beginnings of frustration and embarrassment well up inside her.

_She always manages to be present when I’m at my weakest._

She felt Korra’s fingers probing her ribs. 

“I don’t need you to fuss over me, Avatar.” Her voice came out sounding much frailer than she’d hoped. She shoved Korra’s hands away to emphasize her point.

“Hey!” Korra said sharply, “I’m trying to help. Do you want me to heal you or not?”  
Kuvira hesitated. 

“Look,” said Korra, relaxing a bit, “I’ll show you.” She knelt by the cot and dipped her hand into the jug of water that was delivered daily to the cell. When she pulled her hand out it was enveloped in a blob of water. She held the water against the damaged side of Kuvira’s face. The water began to glow and Kuvira felt a cool, tingling sensation seep into her skin. The throbbing in her cheek grew less and she could almost feel the swelling go down, it was like the pain was being drawn out of her face and into the water. Korra moved her fingers up to Kuvira’s swollen eye.

After a few minutes, Korra pulled her hand away and Kuvira reached up to feel her injuries. It was like they were days old. They were still tender, but the ache was dull and the bleeding had stopped.

“Now,” said Korra, leaning back and looking satisfied, “Do you want me to ‘fuss’ over the rest of you? Cause if not I can just leave.”

Kuvira sighed. “Fine.”

She reached to undo the ties of her rough prison tunic, but the twisting motion sent pain coursing through her torso.

“Don’t hurt yourself,” Korra said, yanking on the ties and helping Kuvira sit up slightly so she could shrug out of the tunic. Shivering a bit in her undershirt, Kuvira laid back on the cot. Gingerly, Korra pressed on her ribs. Kuvira couldn’t stop herself from gasping through her teeth when the Avatar’s fingers found a particularly painful spot.

“Broken ribs,” Korra said, her expression hardening, “Again.”

She bent a mass of water from the jug, but didn’t use it right away. It appeared she was trying to calm herself, breathing deeply with her eyes closed, the water suspended between her hands. After a moment, she straightened up and applied the water to Kuvira’s ribcage.

“What a mess,” she murmured, moving the glowing water around slowly.

“Even you didn’t do such an impressive job on me, Avatar.” She felt the corner of her mouth twist into a grim smile.

Korra clenched her jaw.

“I didn’t break your ribs last time. That happened when your mecha fell.” She pulled the water back and again seemed to be trying to relax.

“If you have to take this many breaks maybe we should call for refreshments.”

Korra gave her an incredulous look.

“Since when are you some kind of morbid, wannabe comedian?”

“Prison gets to you after a while.” Kuvira said, shrugging a shoulder. 

_It’s also a defense mechanism,_ she decided not to add. No need to show more weakness than she already had.

“Anyways I’m…” Korra paused as if collecting her thoughts, “I’m not in the best state of mind to heal. It’s hard to have inner peace when you can’t stop thinking about a certain guard whose head you should have set on fire.”

“And why would the benevolent Avatar want to do something like that?”

“Why do you think? Look what he did to you!”

Kuvira looked up at the wooden ceiling and breathed slowly. “Don’t be too hard on him. I’m responsible for his brother’s death.” 

“That doesn’t make this right.”

“I said I would accept my punishment, Korra.”

“This isn’t your punishment! This is some vigilante loser thinking he can just dish out his version of justice on a defenseless prisoner.”

Kuvira exhaled with a frustrated sound. “Can you just get on with the healing?”

Korra took one more deep breath and pressed the water back against Kuvira’s stomach. Kuvira closed her eyes and soaked in the sensation for a few minutes, before she heard Korra again, speaking more softly.

“That’s another thing that’s bothering me. Why didn’t you defend yourself? That guy was no fighter.”

“He handcuffed me.”

“Handcuffs have never stopped me before. And I don’t believe they could stop you unless you let them.”

“So I let them.” She opened her eyes and glared at Korra. “I don’t have to justify myself to you.”

There was a tense silence as Korra maintained the healing water.

“You must think me ungrateful,” Kuvira murmured.

Korra didn’t say anything.

“The healing is…I mean…I already feel much better.” She was struggling to put her thoughts into words. “But what I don’t understand is why.”

“Why am I healing you?”

“No, not that. Why are you even here?”

Korra shrugged. “The airship I was going to take to Ba Sing Se had some maintenance problems, so I decided that as long as I was in town I might as well visit you one more time.”

“But why do you visit me at all?” The words came out louder than Kuvira meant them to. “Why do you come here, and ask me how I’m doing, try to talk to me, bring me tea? Pretending…like you care.”

Korra pulled the water away and bent it back into the jug. She met Kuvira’s eyes with such an expression of concern that it made Kuvira feel uncomfortable. 

“I do care, Kuvira.” She gave a tired looking smile. “And I guess I visit you for a lot of the same reasons I saved your life five months ago.”

“Because you think we’re similar. Because you’ve imagined some kind of connection between us.”

“You know we’re similar. You used that fact to your advantage several times during your campaign.”

Korra didn’t have to explain. Kuvira remembered all too well how she had both appealed to Korra’s sympathies and played on her insecurities during the takeover of Zaofu.

“That’s only part of it though,” Korra continued, “I told you I understand you because we‘ve both been through terrible experiences. Things you can’t just move past; things that change you forever. What your parents did to you, that was so long ago but it affects you to this day.”

Kuvira looked away. Telling Korra about what had happened to her as a child was something she found herself regretting more often than not. She had been so vulnerable in that moment when her world was crumbling around her, so desperate for someone to understand, that she had latched onto the faint hope that Korra might be that someone. Now, however, she was disgusted that she had ever shown such weakness in front of the Avatar.

“The thing I’ve realized,” Korra said softly, “Is that, being defeated and imprisoned, you’re going back to that dark place. It wasn’t that long ago that I was there, too. What kind of person would I be if I abandoned you now?”

“I’m not worth your time,” Kuvira said bitterly. “Even if you could help me, I’m going to be stuck in here for the rest of my life. There are plenty of people out there struggling. Why don’t you find someone to help who can do the world some good.”

“Okay, you know what?” Korra said in annoyance, putting a hand on her hip, “Maybe I don’t feel like justifying myself. Sorry if it’s so hard to have one person in the world who wants to be there for you.”

Kuvira felt the stony mask fall reflexively over her features.

“Ah,” Korra said rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. “That came out really bad didn’t it?”

A muscle in Kuvira’s jaw tightened. The Avatar had hit a nerve, or rather she had been hitting nerves the whole conversation, in more ways than she realized.

Korra cleared her throat, breaking the brief silence. 

“Sooo, your ribs are still cracked a little bit,” she said, “But I’ve progressed the healing quite a bit. Just be careful when you move around. Are you hurt anywhere else?” 

“My head is throbbing,” said Kuvira, trying to relax her jaw enough to speak clearly “It took a bad hit against the bars.” 

“Okay,” said Korra, looking relieved to have something to distract from the tension in the air.

Kuvira rolled over carefully and Korra again began to move the glowing water over the back of her head.

“Some cuts and swelling here too,” she said after a minute, moving the water to Kuvira's shoulders.

Kuvira wasn’t listening. She hardly even felt the cool sensation of the healing. All her life there had been hurt inside her. She had spent her energy putting up walls and defenses till she had almost convinced herself that the pain wasn't there; that she was invincible, without insecurities or weaknesses; just like her towering, armor plated colossus. It was when she had fired on her former fiancé that the walls had begun to crack and by the end of that day they were nothing but rubble. It was Korra who had finally broken them. Ever since that day Kuvira had been trying to rebuild her walls as well as she could, but Korra always seemed to see right through them. To the Avatar, the walls were made of glass.

But there was still something that Korra didn’t know, something she couldn’t know. She was the Avatar. She had family and mentors, friends and admirers who had always stood by her side no matter what. How could she possibly have experienced the ultimate depths to which a person’s soul could sink?

“Korra,” said Kuvira through clenched teeth, “You think you understand me, but you don’t.” Why did she feel compelled to tell Korra this?

“I thought…that I could handle this. My punishment. Being in prison forever. But every day I’m here it gets more unbearable…staring at these walls…walking the eight paces between them over and over again. I thought living in Zaofu was like being in a cage but I had no idea what that word meant. I guarded the city. I kept it safe from the outside. In here my existence is pointless; I’m a discarded piece of rubbish, and I’m unable to cope with that fact. It’s more unbearable still because everyone I ever loved has turned their backs on me…which is exactly what I deserve for the things I did to them. Now the only thing left for me is to escape.” Kuvira squeezed her eyes shut.

 _No tears,_ she thought. She reached under her cot and grabbed a bundle of ragged cloth which she thrust at Korra. 

Korra released her water back into the jug and slowly unraveled the bundle. It was like a rope, consisting of three long strips of cloth torn from a bedsheet. A braid had been started at one end but the strips hung loose at the other. Her eyes flickered uncertainly to the window in the upper corner, as if to reassure herself that it was too small for a person to climb through. 

Kuvira snorted, masking her emotion with disdain. “There are other ways a rope can help you escape, Korra.”

Horrified realization was dawning on the Avatar’s face. 

“Kuvira,” she breathed, “No…”

There was a look of pain on Korra’s face such as Kuvira had never seen there, almost as if she were the one suffering. Kuvira couldn’t meet her eyes. She turned her face downward, pressing her forehead against her arm. Shame was welling up inside her again.

“You can’t do this.” Korra’s voice shook.

“Why not? Give me a reason.”

Korra stood up and spun away, stalking across the small room.  
“You should go, Korra. You can’t help me. You think I’m just weak, but if you’d ever felt this way…if you’d ever been where I’m at now you would underst—”

“I have been there before!” Korra shouted, slamming the side of her fist into the platinum bars. Her voice was thick with emotion. She turned to face Kuvira and there were tears on her cheeks. Kuvira stared at her, stunned, unable to speak. Slowly she pushed herself into a sitting position, taking care not to twist her torso. Korra walked slowly back to the cot and sat down next to her.

“Don’t you remember the first time we met?” said Korra.

How could she forget? 

“You wanted to thank me for saving your father.”

Korra nodded, fixing Kuvira with her blue eyes. They looked so different now than they had on that day, years ago. It had been shortly after the Red Lotus had captured and poisoned Korra, and the Avatar had spent a couple of weeks in Zaofu to recover enough to make the journey back to Republic City. Kuvira had wanted to officially meet Korra ever since she first arrived, but had imagined it under far different circumstances. She could still picture the scene in her mind. The all-powerful Avatar, propped up in a bed, appearing utterly broken and defeated. Her words of thanks had been a feeble whisper, and her eyes…her eyes had looked hollow and dead. 

_Is that what my eyes look like now?_ Kuvira wondered. She looked back at Korra. Korra, the Avatar. Korra, the girl who had always had everything Kuvira ever wanted. 

“How?” was all she could say.

“How did I get to that point?” Korra looked down at her hands. “I may not have been locked in a cell, but I was definitely imprisoned…by a body that didn’t work, by a mind that kept replaying the horrible events of the day I was poisoned. I don’t think it was too different from what you are going through now.”

“But…you’re the Avatar.” Kuvira cringed inwardly at how childish the statement sounded, but Korra seemed to understand.

“Believe it or not, that made it even worse. I constantly wondered if…if it was my duty to die, so that the world could have a new Avatar. One who wasn’t broken.”

“And your family, your friends…they couldn’t help you?”

“They did help me. I’ll always be grateful for them. But that alone wasn’t enough…I had to get through a lot of it on my own.”

Kuvira looked away, her eyes wandering slowly around the tiny cell.

“You endured that for three years,” she said softly, “But I’m never getting out of here. You told me yourself that life in prison was by far my most likely sentence.”

“If that’s true, then I want to do my best to make sure your life is still worth living, even in here.”

Kuvira breathed deeply, holding in her emotions.

“I'm not going to give up on you, Kuvira. And I'm not going to let you give up on yourself. Will you let me help you?”

Kuvira met Korra's earnest blue eyes and felt hope stir faintly within her for the first time since her imprisonment. She nodded slowly.

Korra smiled. “Good.”

Korra stood up from the cot and stretched. Her tears had since dried up, but her eyes seemed bright in a different way. There was something about her, both a liveliness and an inner peace that she radiated simultaneously. It made the tension and emotion of the previous moments dissipate like fog before the sun. Kuvira could still faintly remember feeling that alive herself.

“Okay, here’s the deal,” Korra said, seemingly unaware that Kuvira was studying her. “I still have to make the trip to Ba Sing Se, but I’m going to make it as short as I can so I can come back and see you.” As she spoke, she bent down and scooped the makeshift rope off the floor, then held its coils loosely between her hands and ignited it with firebending. It burned for a moment, and then she doused it with some water from the jug. “My question is, do I need to tell Beifong to put you on suicide watch until I come back?”

“No,” said Kuvira quickly, “That won’t be necessary.”

Korra gave her a look, skepticism showing in the way she screwed up her eyebrows.

“Really,” Kuvira sighed, “It’s not as if it was something I was looking forward to doing. If you actually think you can help me, I much prefer that alternative.”

Korra nodded, looking satisfied. She turned towards the door and put a hand on her hip.

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to drag that chicken-lizard of a guard down to the Chief’s office to face justice. Beifong’s not gonna be happy.”

“You mean those two chicken-lizards of guards,” Kuvira said. “The other one was in on it too.”

“Oh yeah, almost forgot about him.” Korra slammed a fist into her palm. “Two chicken-lizards of guards.” She scooped the discarded handcuffs off of the wooden floor and strode to the cell gate. 

"Wait, Korra?" 

The Avatar turned to look back at Kuvira.

"Your trip to Ba Sing Se...you said something was going wrong in the Earth Kingdom..." She faltered, trying to recall the details that she had only half-listened to in her previous state of apathy.

Korra's expression darkened.

"King Wu has taken the throne and he's trying to set up a republic like we have here. They've just elected their first prime minister, but the problem is there's just so much unrest since you surrendered. It's the third major power shift the Earth Kingdom has had in only a few years and...well...by now things are just in shambles. Bandit tribes rising again, political candidates with Earth Empire sympathies being elected by states that did well under your reign and--" she broke off.

"What is it?"

"Kuvira...a number of your generals never surrendered."

Kuvira's eyes widened. She was sure Korra had never mentioned this before.

"We thought they were just in hiding trying to avoid justice, but it turns out they've got a following, mostly from remnants of your army. They laid low for a long time but they've apparently been causing disturbances in some parts of the country. To make matters worse, they seem to be attracting more followers."

"If you could find them couldn't you just...wipe them out?"

Korra gave a hint of a wry smile. "Possibly," she said, "But finding them is the hard part. Intelligence says the leaders move around all the time and are never all in the same location. Individual squads of soldiers often seem to act without input from their higher-ups."

Kuvira closed her eyes. "I never stopped to think that my order to stand down might be ignored by some. And now they are causing chaos in my homeland. I'm sorry, I wish I could have done more to stop this."

Korra looked at Kuvira thoughtfully. "Well don't worry, I'm on the job," she said after a moment. "It can't be worse than terrorist bloodbenders, dark avatars, terrorist airbenders, and a dictator in a giant mecha suit." 

Korra gave a kind, if slightly lop-sided smile and backed out of the cell. 

"Is there anything else you need before I go?" She asked before closing the gate completely.

Kuvira shook her head. "Thank you."

Korra locked the cell behind her and walked down the hall, disappearing through the door. Kuvira could hear her muffled voice growling something at the guards.

Kuvira leaned back carefully against the wall and pulled her feet onto the cot, wincing slightly from her partially healed injuries. The news from the Earth Kingdom was disturbing, but her thoughts kept wandering back to the earlier parts of their conversation.

 _She did it again,_ Kuvira thought. _She made me open up. She somehow convinced me she's the one person who understands me._ Kuvira shook her head in bewilderment, hugging her knees. _Maybe it’s possible she really does._

_________________________________________

Far away, on the edge the Si Wong Desert, a young traveller fell to his knees in despair. He had finally escaped that horrible place, that swamp that had held such dreadful tidings for him. How could he have let this happen? He should never have left home. Squeezing his eyes shut and gripping his hair at the roots, he bowed forward until his head touched the earth. The familiar desert should have been irresistable to him with its open sky and endless waves of sand, especially after the oppressive darkness of the swamp, but he knew that there was no longer anything there for him. 

An unnatural cool breeze caressed the backs of his hands and neck and he sat up with a shiver. Shimmering in the air several yards in front of him was the faint shape of a strange creature. A spirit.

"You again," muttered the man.

"Yes," the apparition's voice was a hoarse whisper, "And you. You have witnessed what I warned you of?"

"How did you know?"

"The desert is my home. Little passes through that escapes my notice even after everything that I have suffered; and everything that the desert has suffered."

The man shook his head. Something about this wasn't right. But nothing was right anymore.

"So," he said, "What do we do now?"

"We?"

"You said you could help me." The man stood up. "Well I need your help now more than ever. Just tell me what you want me to do."

He could have sworn the spirit was grinning.

A shout tore from the man's lips. " _Tell me!_ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all and thanks for checking out my first chapter! I am excited to finally publish this. There are 19 chapters total in this story, I already have the ENTIRE PLOT written down in a very detailed synopsis which my beta readers are currently going through, so all that's left is to actually write and publish this thing.
> 
> The first spark of this story appeared in my head literally right after Book 4 ended in 2014, and I was left feeling that Kuvira's story needed more closure than what it got. Slowly in my head and then on my computer I started to flesh out the story and also (my inner perfectionist getting the better of me) doing a lot of research on novel writing. I got a lot done; drafts of the first two chapters and lots of progress on a very thorough outline. Sadly a harddrive crash caused me to lose what I had worked on and for a long time I wasn't sure I wanted to give it another go, but seeing that there was still a lot of passion in the Kuvira fandom made me decide to try again (I learned my lesson and did my work in the cloud this time).
> 
> Fast forward to October 2018. Progress on my fic was slow but steady when I learned that the next LoK comic was going to feature a story centered around Kuvira. On the one hand I was very excited, but on the other I again began to question again if I should continue writing my story, since we now were likely getting a canon version of what I wanted in the first place (to add to my conflict I noticed some striking similarities between the comic synopsis and the premise of my own story, though I have hopes that ONLY the premise will be similar, (really how many legitimate reasons are there to get Kuvira out of prison anyway? (oops spoiler alert))). Anyhow I posted my concerns on tumblr and received some awesome messages of support so I decided again to keep going.
> 
> This time I set myself a very specific goal. I had to complete a very detailed story outline AND publish AT LEAST the first chapter to my story BEFORE the comic release date. And despite the craziness of my life I HAVE DONE IT. JUST BARELY HAHA. Anyways I am so happy and excited about this. Please leave kudos/comments if you liked this chapter and know that I'm pushing myself to get the next one out! Byeeeeeeeee!


	2. Chapter 2

Lin Beifong leaned back in her chair and looked at the clock sitting on President Raiko’s desk for the hundredth time. An hour had passed since she had arrived at the new City Hall at Korra’s request and been deposited in the presidential office to wait while Korra met with political leaders of the United Republic and the Earth Kingdom in the council room.

 _I need to get back to headquarters,_  she thought sullenly, _I’ve got more important things to do than sit around waiting to be invited into Korra’s top-secret meeting._

She scratched at the scars on her cheek. How were her officers holding up outside City Hall? Even though they were more than capable of holding back the crowd of protesters and reporters swarming the building she still wished she could be with them. The crowd had been so large today, so unruly. She wondered if the rumors about the meeting were true.

Lin was always one to err on the side of caution in such matters, but in this case she thought that the theories of the mainstream news outlets were on the right track. She would probably find out soon enough.

The newspaper on the president’s desk caught her eye, her mind making a subconscious connection between her current train of thought and the front page article. “EARTH KINGDOM MILITARY STILL MAKING LITTLE HEADWAY AGAINST EMPIRE REMNANTS” the headline read. 

The handful of Earth Empire generals who had refused to turn themselves in when Kuvira surrendered almost two years ago had turned from a nuisance to a serious threat. While their forces were far less than they had been during Kuvira's leadership, the tactics they had adopted had proven to be highly effective against the much larger and more cumbersome Earth Kingdom military. 

Lin detected the approaching footsteps through the marble floor before she heard them, unconsciously monitoring her surroundings with her seismic sense. Sure enough, the office door swung open and Korra appeared.

“We’re ready for you now,” she said.

“About time,” Lin muttered. Korra’s face cracked into the tiniest of apologetic smiles. In the council room Korra took her seat at a long rectangular table with an array of government officials. Since she was apparently acting as some sort of witness, Lin decided it was more appropriate for her to stand. She allowed herself a moment to take inventory of all the people seated at the table.

Korra sat at the end of the table on Lin's far right, and next to her were King Wu and the newly-elected Prime Minister Jiang from the Earth Kingdom. Wu gave Lin a rather infuriating wink as she glanced at him, which she pretended not to see. The middle-aged woman next to him, the prime minister, looked more appropriately stressed out. After all, she and Wu were trying to restore order and rule of law to their weary nation that was still plagued by war. 

Next to Jiang sat President Raiko, near the center of the table. At his right hand was a large, square-shouldered man, Judge Kwan. The Judge's presence at these meetings was cause for much of the rumors circulating the city. He was, after all, the man who had presided at Kuvira’s trial and sentenced her to life in prison just months before. Three other people were seated, two of whom Lin knew to be some of Republic City’s foremost lawyers, and finally a clerk who presided over copious stacks of paperwork.

President Raiko cleared his throat.

“Lin Beifong, Chief of Police of Republic City?”

Lin just nodded. 

“Chief Beifong, we have called you here to deliver a report on the history of Kuvira, former leader of the Earth Empire, since she became a prisoner of the United Republic eighteen months ago.”

 _So this_  is _about Kuvira,_ Lin thought with satisfaction. 

“What exactly do you want to know?” she said.

“Specifically, we want to hear about her behavior, any problems you’ve had with her, any trouble she’s caused during her time there.”

“The Avatar is just as well acquainted with Kuvira’s prison history as I am. Surely you’ve discussed this with her already.”

Raiko glowered while Korra was having limited success hiding a smirk. 

“We’d like to hear it from you,” said the president, his tone a little too controlled.

Lin shifted her weight to her other foot, trying not to show her impatience.

“Kuvira has been a model prisoner the entire time we’ve held her.”

An uncomfortable silence followed. Raiko seemed stuck between waiting for her to elaborate and asking another question.

“There have been no, ah, incidents surrounding her that have given the prison staff trouble?” he asked.

“There have been incidents  _surrounding_ her, just nothing she has actually caused herself.”

“Such as?”

“Protests around the prison from people who wanted her executed, a couple of pathetic attempts by her supporters to bust her out by slipping her some metal.” Lin sighed wearily. “Look, if it’s a report on her behavior itself you want, I’ve got nothing except that she came quietly when we arrested her and she’s cooperated with us ever since.”

“After her trial,” Raiko persisted, “You set her schedule so that she would spend her time in the prison’s recreational area alone, without being part of a group of prisoners as is customary. Did you expect her to cause trouble with the other inmates?”

“That was for her own safety. We had prisoners making threats against her and we wanted to avoid any riots. Turned out we should have taken more precautions with our own guards.” 

“Yes I was coming to that,” said Raiko, a hint of eagerness coloring his tone, “The assault on her a year ago. Why would two guards, men you hired, with no previous records of wrongdoing just attack her like that? And the assault itself was so poorly executed for something that was supposedly malicious and premeditated. The guard supposedly on watch didn’t even know Korra was there till she went in the door. Don’t you think Kuvira may have provoked it herself?”

Several people at the table shifted uncomfortably at this. Raiko had phrased his question in such a way as to force Lin to either admit she had hired two thugs as guards, or pretend the actions of a prisoner were an excuse for their behavior. Her mouth opened, but before she could speak a deep voice cut in.

“Mr. President let’s leave the reputation of Chief Beifong and the police out of this,” Judge Kwan said sounding exasperated. “That case has been closed for nearly a year. The testimonies of everyone involved  _including_ the guards state that Kuvira did nothing to warrant being attacked; she didn’t even try to defend herself when it happened. You’re just reciting old lines from the defense’s case.”

Wu, who had spent most of the time Lin was present making eyes at one of the lawyers, chimed in. “Okay everyone, I know it’s hard not to let our personal feelings get in the way on these things, especially when they involve a dame who’s both terrifying and gorgeous as Kuvira is, but I think we ought to call it quits on all this arguing and put it to a vote.”

The screech of chair legs on the marble floor cut across the hall as Raiko stood suddenly, looking like he would combustion bend at Wu’s face if he could. 

“No,” said Korra sharply before Raiko could speak, “He’s right. We’ve wasted our time going over the same points again and again while the situation in the Earth Kingdom just gets worse by the day. King Wu and Prime Minister Jiang are leaving for Ba Sing Se soon. It’s time we made a decision.”

“Agreed,” said Jiang, speaking for the first time, “There’s no point in discussing this any further. The situation in our country is deadlocked. Powerful as she is, Avatar Korra can’t be everywhere at once, and our military is having only minimal success against the Empire’s tactics. We can’t even get them to engage in any kind of diplomacy. We need another card to lay on the table; we need to take action here and now.”

Murmurs of agreement sounded around the table. Raiko sat down, a scowl cutting deeply into his features. 

“Thank you Chief,” Korra said, “That’s all we needed from you.”

Lin nodded. “I’ll be outside checking on my officers.” Still grinding her teeth at Raiko’s insinuations, she walked quickly down the hall to the main doorway. As she pulled the massive doors open she was greeted with an explosion of camera flashes going off in her face and the sharp voices of reporters over the murmur of the crowd.

“Chief Beifong,” one barked, “Can you shed any light on the reasons behind this meeting?”

“With Wu and Jiang leaving the city so soon, will the officials be coming to a decision today?”

“Why were you asked to be present at this meeting?”

“Do you believe these meetings should be kept a secret from the public?”

“NO COMMENTS,” Lin shouted, glad for the chance to blow off some steam. “You really think I’m going to be the one to blab about classified government affairs?” She stalked down the roped off walkway that was punctuated by police officers trying to keep the crowd in check. As always they were doing a fine job of things, but Lin knew from experience that just showing her face would give them a boost in morale. They certainly needed it today. 

If Lin didn’t know any better she would have thought the protesters were trying to level the building with the sheer noise they were making; one minute bursting into impromptu chants, the next falling into an indecipherable din. To Lin, it was like stepping back in time. Everything about this crowd was almost a carbon copy of the protests that had accompanied Kuvira’s trial months ago. Even the wording on many of the signs was the same.

It was fitting, she supposed, that the reactions to Kuvira’s sentencing and the reactions to her potential release were so similar.

 _If that really is what’s about to happen,_  she reminded herself, turning and pacing the back towards the building. She couldn’t find many reasons to doubt it now that she had been present at the meeting.

The next moment the huge doors of City Hall opened and the officials from the meeting filed out, all of them flanked by security guards. All of them but Korra, Lin noted with approval. The Avatar was out of the building before any of the guards, ignoring the reporters and the crowd as she walked. Lin fell into step by her side. 

“No comments,” she shot again at the reporters still brandishing microphones in their direction. “So Korra,” she said in a low voice, glaring into the crowd. “That whole thing felt pointless. I hope I was of some help.”

“Raiko insisted we get your take on it. He seemed to think I was sugar coating everything. His approval ratings are on the line I guess.” Korra responded distractedly. “But yes, thank you. I’ll treat you to ice cream sometime.”

Lin snorted. “Maybe you could just clue me in about all this.”

“Everyone else seems to think they’re pretty clued in.” She sounded annoyed. “But sure, hop in my car, I’ll drive you to the prison.”

“To the prison, huh?”

Korra jumped into the driver’s seat of a shiny convertible without answering.

"Hey Avatar," someone yelled from the crowd, "Who's side are you on? You're really going to let that psycho dictator loose?"

Lin glanced at Korra as she climbed into the passenger’s seat but Korra kept her jaw clenched tight as she pulled onto the congested road. As soon as they were on their way she exploded.

“Why are all of these stupid people just going on the assumption that we’re just going to let Kuvira out of prison?”

Lin leaned away slightly to avoid Korra’s gesticulating right arm. “Well you are, aren’t you?”

“Yes. That’s not the point!” She smacked the steering wheel. “This is Wu’s fault.”

“Hmph, well he certainly didn’t help,” Lin said, recalling some not-so-subtle comments the young king had made to the press before Korra had jumped on his case about it, “But there were a lot of other things that tipped people off. You’ve been visiting her a lot more frequently for one thing.”

“I needed to keep her informed and strategize with her on what she could bring to the table by meeting the Empire leaders in person.”

“You think they will agree to meet with her? As much as they still like to claim her they've sure been good at ignoring the messages she’s sent them so far.”

“We think that they will be more likely to listen to her if they can see that she isn’t doing it because she's being forced. The leaders of the Empire remnants are people she worked with, people who know her. If she could just meet them face-to-face and explain that she surrendered because she recognized what the Empire was doing was wrong—”

“You seem pretty convinced she's a changed person. What if she…”

“Lin, I don’t know if I can say she’s changed, but I do know that she will help us. Her goal was always to help her people, even when she took things too far.”

“And what if she decides joining the Earth Empire again is what’s right for her people?”

“She won’t. Even when Kuvira was leading the Empire she knew she was doing things that weren't right, but she thought she needed to sacrifice her own humanity to save her nation.”

“That’s looking at it from a rather sunny point of view.”

“I didn’t say it was a good thing. I’m just saying that whether or not Kuvira’s changed, she’ll make the right choices this time.”

“Hmm,” was Lin’s only response.

Korra looked over at her. “Do you think  _I’ve_ changed?” 

“Yes and no,” said Lin after a moment’s pause. “I see your point. You’ve grown up a lot, but unfortunately you’re still Korra.”

“Hey!” said Korra with a laugh, “That’s a little harsh don’t you—”

“BRAKE!” Lin shouted as they nearly collided with a stopped Satomobile in front of them. Korra’s attention was back on the road in an instant as they jerked to a stop, killing the car’s engine.

“I thought Asami was teaching you to drive,” Lin snapped as Korra restarted the vehicle.

“She is! I mean she did! I have my license now,” Korra said defensively. “I’m getting better.”

Lin started to grumble a response but stopped when she saw that they had arrived at the prison. The guards let them drive through the outer gates and within minutes they had parked and entered the building through the main doors. Lin led Korra to the main office where the prison warden stood up as they entered.

"Warden, we need Kuvira's file," Lin ordered.

"Of course," the man said opening up a drawer and thumbing through the contents. 

“It’s only a temporary release,” Korra said. “She’ll be on parole and in my custody. After we complete our mission in the Earth Kingdom she’ll be locked up again. Judge Kwan should be coming here too to sign off on everything.”

Lin took some papers from the warden and began to thumb through them. “Go on up and tell Kuvira the news,” she said. “We’ll have everything ready when you get back.”

“There was one thing I wanted to ask you,” said Korra, sounding slightly hesitant.

“What’s that?”

“When Kuvira and I are in the Earth Kingdom I’d like for us to have a location to operate from as our home base. Do you think your sister would let us stay in Zaofu?”

Lin’s expression darkened. “No. You can talk to Su about it but as long as Kuvira is with you I doubt she’ll let you within fifty miles of the place.”

“I can’t believe she’s still holding on to that grudge. You’d think someone like her would at least make an effort to reconcile.”

“She’s a Beifong,” said Lin with a wry smile.

“Makes you wonder if she ever really cared about Kuvira in the first place.”

“She did,” Lin said, her voice growing intense. “I’ve seen it. She reminds me exactly of how I was when I wouldn’t forgive her and mom. Her hatred is eating her up from the inside. You can’t hate someone the way she hates Kuvira without…” she trailed off uncomfortably.

“Without having loved them first,” Korra finished. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to criticize Su. I know Kuvira hurt her and her family a lot. I’ve just seen the way Kuvira longs to make things right again. She doesn’t talk about it much, but it’s eating her up too.”

“Su won’t talk to me about it either. I’ve tried. But maybe this mission of yours will help things between them.”

“We’ll see,” said Korra, “I’ll go up and get Kuvira.”

Just then Lin's police radio crackled to life.

"Chief," said the officer on the other end, "Word's spread about where you and the Avatar went. Protesters are marching your way. "

Lin exhaled in frustration and gripped her radio, holding down the button. "I copy officer." She looked at Korra. "You'd better hurry if you want to avoid having to drive through them."

"I don't like that," Korra said shaking her head. "Can't you do anything to stop them?"

Lin shook her head. "Marching down the street holding signs isn't illegal."

"Good thing I've got backup coming. I just hope he makes it on time."

"Either way you'd better not waste any more time." Lin pulled a form from the stack she was looking through and signed and stamped it. “Give this to the guard on duty. It’s my orders to have her brought down.”

“Thanks Chief, for everything.” Korra took the paper and headed for the elevators.

_________________________________________

_Twelve more minutes of freedom._

Kuvira held her body in a straight line from her hands pushing into the floor to her toes in the air above her. Her muscles were nearly spent but still she held them steady, imagining they were cables of metal running through her body. Slowly she allowed herself to curl down from the handstand, bending her elbows and bringing her knees to rest against the backs of her arms. 

_Though calling this freedom is like calling a candle a sunrise._

She was in the prison’s recreation area for earthbenders; a large, wood-lined area with skylights high above letting the sun pour deliciously in. There was only an hour allotted per week for her to spend here, and she always made the most of every second.

She refocused on her breath, willing her mind to be free of anything but its connection to her body. Again she straightened herself, parallel to the floor this time, balancing on her hands with elbows under her stomach. She held the pose as long as she could, her muscles on fire. It felt good. It reminded her she was alive. Finally she lowered her feet to the ground, then brought one leg forward and straightened, stretching her arms to the sky.

With the sensation of relief in her upper body, her focus wavered again and thoughts poured back into her mind like an unstoppable river. 

Today was the day. Korra was meeting with the leaders of the Earth Kingdom and United Republic for the last time to determine if she, Kuvira, would be released. Anticipation rushed through her at the very thought of being able to leave prison, even on a temporary basis. To be outdoors, to travel to the Earth Kingdom, and especially to be allowed bending; it was no wonder her normally disciplined mind was so distracted by these possibilities.

 _That isn't the purpose of letting me out,_  she chided herself.  _My task will be to aid Korra and the Earth Kingdom and then be locked up again. I owe it to my country and to her._

Korra had been true to her word all those months ago. Somehow she had been able to make life in prison bearable for Kuvira, if only just. Even just having someone to talk to made a world of difference, but Korra did more than that. She would often bring Kuvira newspapers, writing materials, and small food items she could smuggle in as a break from the bland prison diet. She had even given Kuvira a small platinum pocket watch so she wouldn’t have to guess at the time anymore. 

But the best thing Korra had done for Kuvira was to help her learn to meditate and follow her into the spirit world. It was wonderful to escape the dark cell and visit the breathtaking home of the spirits, hiking mountains and watching the sky, feeling the wind and rain and sunshine. Even though she could only visit in spirit, everything she experienced while she was there felt exactly like it would have to her physical body.

Korra had made Kuvira promise not to attempt to meditate into the spirit world alone; she was concerned that Kuvira’s spirit would tilt the balance of the world toward darkness at great peril to herself. It was still tempting to try. Coming back to her body after being in the spirit world felt like plunging into a dark ocean, being buried miles underneath the cold waves with only her regrets to keep her company during the weeks between Korra's visits. 

Kuvira had been standing with her eyes closed, absorbed in her thoughts, but now she heard footsteps approaching. She opened her eyes to see Yong, her current guard. 

"What's the matter Great Uniter, sprain something?"

Kuvira realized she must have been letting her emotions show on her face. "Not at all," she returned, "I could smell you coming."

Yong snorted. "Says the one who just finished her workout."

"At least I have that excuse."

Yong burst into laughter and Kuvira gave a smile despite herself. Following the guards' attack on her Cheif Beifong had replaced her entire guard rotation with handpicked members of the prison staff. Most of them were coldly professional, but Yong was always good for a bit of banter.

Kuvira heard the far door open behind her and steeled herself for the mandatory chi blocking she had to endure before she was moved between locations. She turned to see two people approaching, another guard to help Yong escort her, but instead of the chi blocker...

"Korra!"

The Avatar gave a small smile. Time stood still for a moment before she spoke.

"You're free."

Kuvira let out the breath she had been holding.

"We won't need those," Korra said to Yong who was holding a pair of platinum handcuffs.

"But...it's...protocol..." Yong stuttered.

Korra raised an eyebrow at him. "No time. Besides, I'm the Avatar. She couldn't get away even if she wanted to." 

Yong lowered the cuffs.

"Let's hurry," Korra said.

Yong led them out of the recreation area and down the familiar hallway to Kuvira's cell. The second guard unlocked the gate and left the room.

"We're going down to the Warden's office," Korra said. "Hopefully Judge Kwan has arrived by now and we can get everything squared away to have you released."

"We don't have to go to the courthouse?" Kuvira asked.

"Absolutely not," said Korra. She handed Kuvira a parcel she had been carrying under her arm. "I got you some regular clothes. You can change before we leave. I just got everything in my size even though I think I'm a little taller than you."

"What?" Kuvira said, shaking herself out of her thoughts for a moment. "No, I'm pretty sure I'm t--"

"You," Korra said jabbing a finger at Yong. 

"What?" he said defensively.

"Leave."

Yong backed toward the door with his hands raised. 

"Try not to miss me too much," Kuvira called as she went behind the wooden screen in her cell to change. 

"My heart's already breaking," he returned closing the door behind him. 

Kuvira ripped open the package and pulled out a set of new civilian clothes. Pacing the hallway outside, Korra stopped briefly to capture Kuvira's platinum pocketwatch in a little sphere of airbending and lift it from the cot into her hand. She checked the time and made a frustrated noise.

"Is everything all right?" Kuvira asked.

"That meeting took forever," Korra said, half to herself.

Kuvira stepped out to join Korra, re-braiding her hair as she did so. The new clothes felt clean and crisp, an unfamiliar sensation after she had spent so long wearing rough, loose fitting prison uniforms. She wondered vaguely how she looked. A silly thing to think about really, but the only mirrors she had access to were in the showers and she never spared herself more than a glance in those. 

"Ready?" asked Korra.

Kuvira looked back at her cell. She certainly wouldn't miss it, but it felt strange to be leaving the place she had spent so long in.

"Will all of this...all of my things still be here when I get back?" 

"You've been writing a lot," Korra noted as she looked back into the cell where several stacks of paper, Kuvira's memoirs, were arranged neatly under the cot. "Let's take them downstairs. Beifong can lock them up for you. As for this, why don't you take it with you?" Korra tossed the pocket watch to Kuvira. "A watch always comes in handy." They retrieved the papers from the cell and made their way to the elevator which creaked as the gate shut and they descended.

They reached the ground floor and Kuvira kept in step with Korra as they walked down the repetitive grey hallways. 

"You remember the way?" Korra asked as Kuvira took a corner slightly before she did.

"Yes."

"You've only walked through here a handful of times way back when your trial was going on."

"As guard captain in Zaofu I tasked myself with memorizing all the guards' patrol routes and the layout of the city. Memorizing the way out of this building wasn't too hard after that."

"Sounds like a useful skill," Korra remarked as they approached the door to the warden's office.

Korra pushed the door open to reveal the prison warden, Chief Beifong, and Judge Kwan with his clerk. Kwan raised his eyebrows as Korra and Kuvira entered the room.

"Where is her escort?" he demanded.

"You're looking at her," Korra replied, folding her arms.

"Ah. No better security than the Avatar I suppose," he said, giving Kuvira a suspicious look as he straightened the papers he was holding. "Right. Let's get this over with. Kuvira, formerly of Zaofu, prisoner of the United Republic, we release you into the custody of Avatar Korra, in order for you to assist her in securing peace in the Earth Kingdom in whatever way she deems necessary. Your parole will continue until your mission is accomplished or Korra decides your help is no longer of use." Kwan set a page down on the desk. "We will require your signature, as well as Cheif Beifong's." 

Kuvira signed her name and then stepped aside to let Beifong do the same. Just then there was a light knock at the door. Korra jumped just a little and opened the door.

"Mako!" she exclaimed.

"Sorry," said the tall young detective. "It looks like I'm interrupting."

"Actually we are finished here," said the Judge as he finished sealing and putting away his documents. He looked at Kuvira. "I do hope this turns out to be a good idea."

Kuvira nodded to him and he turned to leave the room.

Mako turned to Korra. "I'm guessing from your reaction that you are going to need my help after all."

"Thank you so much for showing up."

"I told you I'd always have your back," Mako responded. "Kuvira, uh, congratulations on your release."

"Thank you." Kuvira responded, ignoring the awkwardness of the exchange. The last time she had seen Mako was during her trials. Korra had always asked him to help escort Kuvira between prison and the courthouse out of concern for Kuvira's safety. She said she trusted Mako more than almost anyone in the world. But why had Korra asked him to be here now? Her release was supposed to be kept a secret...

"All right enough with the mushy stuff," Beifong interjected. "The sooner you get going the sooner Mr. Hero here can get back to headquarters and the mountain of paperwork he still has from the last triad raid."

Mako looked deflated.

"Cheif's right," said Korra, "We've done enough standing around. Let's go." She turned to leave. Kuvira and Mako followed on her heels as she led them out of the building. A breeze touched Kuvira's face as they walked outside which made her gasp slightly. She had almost forgotten the feeling of fresh air. They headed to the vehicle yard.

"Mako you drive," said Korra as she approached a police car. "I'll come back for my car later."

Mako unlocked the back door and the two women got in. 

"Korra," said Kuvira as Mako got in the driver's seat and started the engine. "Would you mind telling me why you are so on edge?"

"I'm not," Korra said quickly.

"It's more protesters, isn't it?"

Korra gave a reluctant nod. "Do you think you can avoid them Mako?"

"That depends on how close they've gotten," he responded, driving through the front gates the guards had opened for them. "The farther out we can get without running into them the more options we have for going around them." The vehicle picked up speed as they entered the main road away from the prison.

"I wanted to keep a low profile but...maybe we should have grabbed one of the prisoner transports instead." Korra remarked after a minute of tense silence.

Kuvira frowned. "I don't need to hide from anyone."

"Oh sorry I forgot your pride is more important than your safety," Korra said loudly. 

Mako chuckled. "Actually Korra that sounds exactly like something you would say if you were in her--oh no" 

They had rounded a bend and could now see ahead to where protesters lined the sidewalks. Police officers were doing what they could to keep people off the road and under control, but a few people near the front of the crowd had already locked their sights onto Mako's car. Despite her bravado moments before, Kuvira averted her eyes from reading the signs. These people could think what they wanted of her. Their feelings were justified. But...she couldn't allow their words to distract her from her task.

"Hang on," said Mako, the car lurching as he veered to take a ramp onto the lower streets.

Their route twisted around under the main road but Mako was forced to slow down as he gained on the vehicles in front of them. A sudden movement made Kuvira look up. A man had jumped off of the overpass and landed not far from their vehicle, using a blast of firebending to slow his fall. He locked eyes with Kuvira.

"It's her!" the man shouted. Several other benders leapt down to join him, landing on both sides of the road ahead. Korra raised a fist ready to defend from an attack. A police officer jumped down and threw himself in front of the group on Korra's side of the vehicle, when something out of the corner of Kuvira's eye streaked toward the windshield from the other side. Mako gasped as her arm shot past his head, stopping the chunk of asphalt inches before it collided with the glass. The protester who had launched the projectile stumbled back as the force of Kuvira's bending backed by the moving vehicle collided with his rock. He hadn't fully recovered his balance when more police officers dropped from the bridge and flung him to the ground. Mako growled and flipped a switch on his dashboard. Red light and a siren's wail flooded the underpass and the vehicles ahead parted. Mako gunned the engine.

Silence against the backdrop of the siren choked the air in the cab for a few moments as they escaped. Suddenly Kuvira chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Korra demanded.

"So much for keeping a low profile."

"Yeah, I was trying to avoid danger." 

"I know, I just..." Kuvira looked down at her hand. She'd stopped the rock. She'd earthbent. Not only that, but she had taken part in a fight, however small it may have been. She didn't finish her sentence. She wouldn't have been able to keep the thrill out of her voice.

Korra was addressing Mako. "Maybe we should suggest that Asami hire more guards."

"I think it will be fine, Korra. Infiltrating the Sato mansion is a few steps above throwing a rock at a car in rage."

"Wait," Kuvira interjected, "The Sato mansion?"

"Oh, yeah," Korra said. "I forgot to mention it. Since I'm not supposed to leave you alone after your release Asami agreed to let you stay with us at the Sato mansion."

Kuvira's insides twisted. Asami Sato. Daughter of Hiroshi Sato. The last person Kuvira had killed before her imprisonment. 

"Asami...agreed to let me stay in her home," she said carefully. "Are you sure that's the best place for me to be?" Kuvira couldn't believe she hadn't even thought about where she would be staying.

"Hmm? Yeah it will be perfect," Korra said. "I mean, I know I'm fairly nomadic, but when I'm in the city that's usually where I stay. It's got awesome grounds, gyms, a racetrack, swimming pools..."

"Korra," Kuvira said, shooting her a look.

"Okay, okay, I understand your concern," Korra said. "Really though, I talked it over with her and...she gets it. She gets why I visit you, why I'm helping you. She didn't like it at first but she came around eventually. Um..." Korra trailed off awkwardly, "I should probably just let her talk to you about it."

Kuvira looked out the window thinking that a better option would be for her and Asami to be on opposite ends of the planet at all times.

 _Don't be a coward,_ she told herself.  _The whole reason I'm leaving prison is to face my mistakes. If Asami needs the closure of confronting her father's killer then that's the least I can give her._

They drove on in silence. The setting sun was painting the sky in golds and reds by the time they'd made it through the city and onto a secluded road through an airy birch forest. Eventually the ground began to rise and they broke through the treeline to be greeted by the sight of the enormous facade of the Sato mansion. A pair of guards let them through the main gates after confirming their identities, then Mako pulled up in front of the mansion and they got out. 

"Mako, you can join us for dinner if you want," said Korra.

"I've got to get back to the station. Beifong wasn't kidding about my mountain of paperwork."

"Maybe another time then? You know you're always welcome."

"Of course," he said as he slid back into the driver's seat. "Good night." He drove off down the road and into the trees.

Kuvira followed Korra up to the mansion's colossal front doors where another two guards were stationed. The men sprung forward and opened the doors to reveal a spacious entrance hall filled with golden light.

A butler came to meet them. "Shall I send for Miss Sato, Avatar Korra?"

"No need," came a voice from the top of the grand staircase. Asami Sato descended the stairs with a smooth and graceful step. She matched the house quite well, with a cultured air and attire that was an easy blend of modern and elegant. Kuvira became suddenly conscious of her own hastily donned outfit and last-minute braid. She was not used to having to care about her appearance.

"How was the drive?" Asami asked, coming to stand next to Korra.

"Well, we kind of got attacked."

Asami arched an eyebrow.

"It was ok though," Korra explained, "Just some hooligan protesters who wanted a piece of us. Actually Kuvira did great. She saved Mako's face from a rock."

Asami looked directly at Kuvira for the first time. Kuvira unconsciously slipped her hands behind her back and clasped them tightly.

"That's a relief," said Asami with a slight smile. "Mako's not very good at saving face."

Korra's laugh spared Kuvira from having to come up with a reply. She had prepared herself for hostility or at least iciness from Asami. Such a benign response left her completely off-balance.

"Come on," said Asami, "Dinner's been ready for a while, I was just waiting for you to arrive." 

"Nothing better than a hot meal after a day fighting with the president and getting attacked by random thugs," Korra responded as she followed her girlfriend into a hallway leading out of the entrance hall.

Kuvira trailed behind them, still trying to find her mental footing. It had to be for Korra's sake...or perhaps Asami was trying to get Kuvira to let her guard down for some reason. Neither of those explanations really made sense though.

They arrived in what must have been one of the mansion's smaller dining rooms where a table was already laid out with a white cloth and silver cutlery. The intoxicating smells of meat, herbs, and vegetables saturated the air as servants brought steaming platters of food and placed them on the table. Asami immediately began plucking food from the platters with her chopsticks and Kuvira followed suit. She attempted to take a small sampling of each dish; saucy fried catfish, piles of fresh fruit, noodles dripping in broth, steamed dumplings, stir-fried vegetables, and a beautiful roast turtleduck (she had to slip a tiny piece of this into her mouth as she dished up), but by the end her plate was heaping with food. 

"Someone's a little hungry," Korra commented as Kuvira began to shovel food into her mouth as quickly as priority would possibly allow. Kuvira gave her a look between bites but didn't slow down. 

"Not that I blame you," Korra said after swallowing her own mouthful of food, "But you should be careful...your stomach won't be used to this kind of food anymore." 

Kuvira paused and leaned back reluctantly. 

"What kinds of food did you eat in prison?" Asami chimed in. Kuvira gave her a sharp glance, but she seemed genuinely curious.

"A lot of soggy steamed vegetables with rice or bread. Tofu for protein usually, but two days a week they would serve some kind of oversalted fish or poultry. And at the end of every week I'm fairly certain they would just take all the leftovers and dump them in a huge pot and serve it as soup."

Asami's expression had grown a tad uncomfortable. "That sounds..."

"Awful," Korra interjected. "I visited around mealtime once and tried some."

Asami gave a small laugh and turned her attention back to her food. They continued to eat in silence, and Kuvira soon realized that Korra was right about the food. It wasn't just the quality of the dishes either, Kuvira found that the amount she was able to eat was shockingly small. They didn't let her go hungry in prison but the food was so distasteful that she often didn't finish what they brought her. Before her defeat she used to eat quite a lot in order to maintain muscle mass while following a strenuous workout routine.

Korra and Asami began to slow down too, while servants trotted in and out removing dishes from the table.

"Dessert?" Asami asked.

Kuvira shook her head. "Thank you."

"It's late," Korra said hopping up from her chair. "How about we show you where you're sleeping?" 

Kuvira stood too and nodded. Asami led them up to the second floor of the mansion. They went to the west wing and followed a long hallway until they reached the door at the very end. Asami opened the door, switched on the lights, and stood aside to let the others enter. 

They were greeted by a spacious bedroom filled with warm golden light. It had grown dark outside, and the huge windows on the western wall reflected the room back at them making it seem even larger than it was. Illusions aside, to call the room anything less than stately would be to do it an injustice. The furnishings were all of the finest mahogany, the carpet thick and lush, and the windows were hung with crimson curtains as was the enormous four-poster bed whose mattress looked four times as wide as her prison cot and twenty times as thick. Kuvira wasn't sure what she had expected of her living quarters outside of prison. Maybe something with more...security?

"The bathroom is over there," Asami said indicating a door in the south wall, "I've stocked the wardrobe with clothes. Everything in this room is yours to use as you need."

"Well?" asked Korra, "Do you like it?"

"I just didn't expect..." Kuvira shook her head and walked into the room. Finally she turned to Korra. "Are you really allowed to just leave me here by myself? I thought I was supposed to be in your custody."

"Raiko would definitely lose it if he knew, but he doesn't realize how obnoxiously committed you are to your own punishment." 

Kuvira threw her a dry look.

"But ok, I mean if you really want me to just sit in here and stare at you all night I guess I--"

"That won't be necessary," Kuvira said loudly.

Korra chuckled as she exited the room and closed the door behind her.

Kuvira looked around the room again. It was too big, she decided. So much wide open space felt not only unnecessary, but uncomfortable. But there was no need to find fault with her host's generosity, as awkward as she felt accepting it. 

She stood in the center of the room with her eyes closed and breathed, letting out the tension of the day. After a minute she looked up and headed to the bathroom. As inviting as the bed looked she decided she would enjoy it to its fullest if she cleaned up first. On her way she stopped at the wardrobe and selected some loose pajamas. Most of the clothes in the wardrobe were a familiar Earth Kingdom green. She wondered vaguely if it had been Korra or Asami who had picked out the clothes. Maybe they'd done it together...made a date out of it. She cringed slightly at the thought.

The bathroom was no less majestic than the bedroom with a gleaming porcelain tub and warm sconces bathing the room in light. Plush towels and a selection of soaps and shampoos were already set out near the tub, so Kuvira pulled off her jacket and blouse, glancing over at the vanity mirror. 

She paused in the act of untucking her tank top, and moved closer to the mirror for a better look. Forest green eyes. The color was familiar, but they stared back at her from dark sleepless sockets. Her black hair was dingy, the pallor of her skin ashen, and her bone structure was marked in her cheekbones and jaw. Because of her exercise she still maintained some gaunt muscle, but overall she looked almost waifish with dark bruises from the chi-blocker standing out against the pale skin. 

She was strangely unsettled by her appearance. Of course she would have been thin and pale, she knew that she didn't eat or sleep as much as she should and she hardly saw the sun at all. She wouldn't have expected herself to look any better. Why, though, did the girl in the mirror seem so...familiar?

Girl in the mirror...seventeen years ago...a little girl alone...forsaken by her parents who had barely cared for her in the first place. Kuvira stumbled back. She felt like she was looking at a mirror into her past. She turned away. 

 _When did I become so weak?_ She breathed slowly and looked back into the mirror. Just a reflection. Perhaps vaguely reminiscent of how she looked as a child, but what of it? Besides she planned on spending all her time at the Sato mansion in the gym, in the outdoors, eating, and sleeping. She would be ready for the mission, just as strong as ever before. She had risen from hopelessness once. She could do it again. 

 _But don't forget,_ she warned herself,  _After this is over you're going back to prison. It's where you belong._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YEEEEEEEEEEEEEE[dies inside]...I have to find a way to work faster on this. It's not that I don't work on it, it's more like I only get small snippets of time here and there to do so. If anyone has suggestions for working faster especially with a busy life let me know.
> 
> We are getting into the story a little bit now! I hope everyone enjoys this chapter and likes the direction I'm taking things. I like writing Lin. She's grumpy. Also my favorite thing about Korra is that she tries to lie but can't. There will be one more in-between type chapter before the heroes embark on their quest! I did manage to put a tiny bit of action in this chapter which I hadn't planned on doing, but I think it made things more exciting. 
> 
> To my betas if you see this: Thanks for all you're help and know that I'm still reading and considering all your comments even if I don't reply. :)
> 
> Everyone else: Leave a comment if you wanna. Comments are life. :)


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